Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 22:02:11 GMT
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Last-modified: Tue, 26 Mar 1996 18:24:33 GMT
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<title>Richard Segal's Biography</title>
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<h1>Biography</h1>

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Every December 19th, you can hear Rich's Grandmother tell the story of his
birth.  Rich, born two months premature, weighed in at a healthy two
pounds.  "It's the most precious thing I ever saw. The doctor came out of
the delivery room holding Rich up in the palm of his hand..."<p>

While Rich took slowly to eating and did not leave the hospital for several
months, he did quickly discover the game of <!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><!WA0><a
href="https://www2.pcy.mci.net/mlb/">baseball</a>.  If you ever see the
movie <!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><!WA1><a
href="http://www.msstate.edu/M/title-exact?brighton+beach+memoirs">
Brighton Beach Memoirs</a> and see how Eugene lives, thinks and breathes
baseball, you still will have no idea how much the national pastime meant to
Rich.  Baseball was everything.<p>

While Rich hoped to spend his entire life playing baseball, his .050 <!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><!WA2><a
href="http://www.littleleague.org">Little League</a> batting average was an
early hint it would never happen.  As fate would have it, one day after a
short introduction to computer programming in 7th grade math class, Rich
found himself with little to do.  He decided to try to write a simple
baseball program.  After hours of intense activity, Rich completed his task
- well not exactly.  It would be weeks before his baseball program worked,
but Rich was hooked.  Computer science was his new destiny. <p>

Rich's teenage years on <!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><!WA3><a
href="http://cyberactive-1.com/html/li-web.html">Long Island</a> saw many
new interests develop.  He discovered that <!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><!WA4><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/skiing.html">falling</a>
down the side of a mountain at high speeds with long boards attached to his
feet could actually be fun.  He discovered that a small enclosed room with
white walls was actually a great place to play <!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><!WA5><a
href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/rex/rb/rball.html">ball</a>.  He
discovered there was more to life than baseball and computers.  He
discovered there were women. <p>

Rich met the love of his life, <!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><!WA6><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/joanna.html">Joanna Labendz</a>, at
a party of a mutual friend.  While he was supposed to be set up with
another woman, Joanna quickly won Rich's heart.  They have been inseparable
ever since.<p>

In high school, Rich found the sport a 5'7" tall athlete could master, <!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><!WA7><a
href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/archery.html">archery</a>.  Rich went on to place 3rd at the Nassau
County championships and helped lead his school to three consecutive
undefeated seasons. <p>

Rich finally left his Long Island home to study <!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><!WA8><a
href="http://www.cs.cmu.edu">Computer Science</a> at <!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><!WA9><a
href="http://www.cmu.edu/">Carnegie Mellon University</a>.  One of the most
important things Rich learned in Pittsburgh was where to find good
desserts.  Topping the list was <!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><!WA10><a
href="http://www.ibp.com/pit/gulliftys/">Gullifty's</a> "<!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><!WA11><a
href="http://www.ibp.com/pit/gulliftys/menu.html#Dessert">Killer
Cookie</a>", a homemade, fresh-from-the-oven, half-inch-thick, chocolate
chip cookie covered with creamy vanilla ice cream and luscious hot
fudge. <p>

Rich, finding he was interested in research and teaching, moved 
to Seattle with Joanna to pursue a Ph.D. from the <!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><!WA12><a
href="http://www.washington.edu">University of Washington</a>.  His Ph.D. <!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><!WA13><a
href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/research.html"> research</a> in <!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><!WA14><a
href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/projects/ai/www/ai.html">artificial
intelligence</a> would investigate such topics as <!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><!WA15><a
href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/softbots">software agents</a>,
<!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><!WA16><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/brute.html">machine learning</a> and <!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><!WA17><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/brute.html">data
mining</a>.  <p>

Moving to Seattle introduced Rich to many new diversions.  He is now an
avid <!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><!WA18><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/stp.html">bicycle</a> rider and spends many hours on the
back roads of Washington.  He has discovered the beauty of hiking and the
serenity of sea kayaking.  He has also learned that the West Coast has
wonderful skiing.  Most importantly, Rich has discovered that he can hit
slow-pitch <!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><!WA19><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/softball.html">softball</a>.  The dream lives on! <p>

Rich is currently finishing his thesis entitled "Induction as Massive
Search."  When completed this summer, Rich will embark on the next stage of
his career.  What it will be, only time will tell. <p>

To be continued... <p>
<p><hr size=5><p> [<!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><!WA20><a href="http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/segal/index.html">Rich's Home Page</a>]

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